Tag Archives: conspiracy nuts

The Associated Press reports: A Colorado woman convicted of plotting to kidnap her son from foster care after associating with supporters of the Qanon conspiracy theory was sentenced Thursday to 60 days in jail and two years of supervised probation, after being reprimanded by the judge for a lack of remorse. Cynthia Abcug, 53, denied she was involved in planning …

CNN reports: Local television stations owned by the Sinclair Broadcast Group are set to air a conspiracy theory over the weekend that suggests Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top expert on infectious diseases, was responsible for the creation of the coronavirus. The baseless conspiracy theory is set to air on stations across the country in a segment during the program …

NBC News reports: Twitter announced Tuesday that it has begun taking sweeping actions to limit the reach of QAnon content, banning many of the conspiracy theory’s followers because of problems with harassment and misinformation. Twitter will stop recommending accounts and content related to QAnon, including material in email and follow recommendations, and it will take steps to limit circulation of …

The Washington Examiner reports: During the evening of July 4, retired Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn shared a video of himself leading five other people in a recitation of the oath of office traditionally given to federal elected officeholders, ending the oath with a slogan associated with the QAnon conspiracy theory. Sidney Powell, a former federal prosecutor who took over Flynn’s …

The New York Times reports: Across Britain, more than 30 acts of arson and vandalism have taken place against wireless towers and other telecom gear this month, according to police reports and a telecom trade group. In roughly 80 other incidents in the country, telecom technicians have been harassed on the job. The attacks were fueled by the same cause, …

Bloomberg News reports: Marc Owen Jones, a researcher at Hamad bin Khalifa University in Qatar, who specializes in online disinformation networks, analyzed 22,000 recent interactions on Twitter mentioning “5G” and “corona,” and said he found a large number of accounts displaying what he termed “inauthentic activity.” He said the effort bears some hallmarks of a state-backed campaign. Jones said the …

USA Today reports: An attack on cellphone towers in the UK over the weekend comes as conspiracy theory connecting 5G to the spread of coronavirus continue to gain momentum on social media. Four of Vodaphone’s towers were attacked in this past weekend. Three other telecommunications companies joined Vodafone in condemning the attack. “Please help us make this stop,’’ the companies …

The Associated Press reports: Investigators arrested a California train engineer Tuesday after he allegedly derailed a train in a bid to crash into the USNS Mercy, the hospital ship treating non-COVID-19 patients at the Port of Los Angeles to lessen the burden on area hospitals, prosecutors said. Eduardo Moreno, 44, was expected to appear in court Wednesday for arraignment on …

The Denver Post reports: A Parker woman is accused of planning a raid to kidnap her child with help from a far-right conspiracy group, according to an affidavit filed by the Parker Police Department. Cynthia Abcug , 50, who does not have custody of her child, is accused of plotting the raid to take the child back with help from …

The Washington Post reports: In the feverish heyday of the “birther movement,” conspiracy-hungry readers swarmed to a website called WorldNetDaily for the latest on the specious yet viral theory that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States. The site’s founder, Joseph Farah — a former newspaperman with a dense, jet-black mustache and a cloak-and-dagger mystique — boasted …

The New York Post reports: Anthony Comello, 24, who even yawned during the highly anticipated appearance in a New Jersey courtroom, held up his left palm and revealed a large, bold “Q” written in blue ink in the center of his hand. It was surrounded by the phrases “MAGA Forever,” “United We Stand” and “Patriots in Charge USA.” “Patriots in …

NBC News reports: A book that pushes the conspiracy theory Qanon climbed within the top 75 of all books sold on Amazon in recent days, pushed by Amazon’s algorithmically generated recommendations page. “QAnon: An Invitation to the Great Awakening,” which has no stated author, ranked at No. 56 at press time. The book, “An Invitation to the Great Awakening,” is …

The Associated Press reports: Fitting for a man who saw so much darkness in the world, Lyndon LaRouche died on the fringes this week, his name little known to anyone under 50, his death rumored online a day before mainstream outlets confirmed it. His influence, however, will surely outlast him. “LaRouche is the granddaddy of the conspiracist culture that is …

Forbes reports: In an official blog post published January 25th about YouTube’s changes to its recommendation algorithm, the Google-owned company announced they would be cracking down on conspiracy-laden videos and other “borderline content”… by ceasing to list them in the “Up Next” sidebar. Examples listed of content no longer being recommended included 9/11 truther documentaries, flat earth conspiracy videos and …

Politico reports: At the first-ever American Priority Conference on Friday morning, Anthony Scaramucci — who served a brief stint as the Trump White House’s communications director — addressed a married couple from Virginia, telling them that the author of the fantastical Internet conspiracy theory QAnon has “been dead accurate about so many things,” adding: “When you find out who he …

The Washington Post reports: A man who worked as an investigator for conspiracy theorist Jack Burkman [photo above] will serve nine years in prison for shooting and wounding his ex-boss in a complicated plot involving a fake FBI exposé. Kevin Doherty, 46, said little as Judge William T. Newman Jr. sentenced him Monday for malicious wounding and use of a …

The Asheville Citizen Times reports: A chickenpox outbreak at a private school now ranks as North Carolina’s largest since a vaccine for the virus became available more than 20 years ago, health officials say. As of Friday, 36 students at Asheville Waldorf School had contracted the varicella virus, known to most as chickenpox. The school has one of the highest …

CNN reports: The Washington Times on Monday issued a lengthy retraction and apology for an editorial it published in March about Aaron Rich, the brother of the slain Democratic National Committee staffer Seth Rich whose unsolved murder became the basis for conspiracy theories on the far-right. “The Column included statements about Aaron Rich, the brother of former Democratic National Committee …

Deadline reports: Maher’s final New Rule for the night: “If Trump supporters don’t want us to call them stupid they have to stop coming up with things like Q.” “Just a few months ago…I was talking about how Republicans are now the Conspiracy Party and that there is nothing so ridiculous they won’t swallow: birth certificate, chemtrails, Jade Helm, Lizard …

The Huffington Post reports: A man arrested on Tuesday in connection with a devastating wildfire in Southern California is a conspiracy theorist who posted videos about satanic rituals and QAnon. “This place is going to burn,” Forrest Clark, 51, allegedly texted a volunteer fire chief two weeks before an inferno enveloped Orange County, burning nearly 20,000 acres and destroying 12 …